diff --git a/pageserver/src/deletion_queue.rs b/pageserver/src/deletion_queue.rs
index efa5cc4f99..21d45dfad3 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/deletion_queue.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/deletion_queue.rs
@@ -40,6 +40,14 @@ const EXECUTE_RETRY_DEADLINE: Duration = Duration::from_millis(100);
 // From the S3 spec
 const MAX_KEYS_PER_DELETE: usize = 1000;
 
+// Arbitrary thresholds for retries: we do not depend on success
+// within OP_RETRIES, as workers will just go around their consume loop:
+// the purpose of the backoff::retries with these constants are to
+// retry _sooner_ than we would if going around the whole loop.
+pub(crate) const FAILED_REMOTE_OP_WARN_THRESHOLD: u32 = 3;
+
+pub(crate) const FAILED_REMOTE_OP_RETRIES: u32 = 10;
+
 // TODO: adminstrative "panic button" config property to disable all deletions
 // TODO: configurable for how long to wait before executing deletions
 
@@ -519,6 +527,26 @@ pub struct FrontendQueueWorker {
 }
 
 impl FrontendQueueWorker {
+    async fn upload_pending_list(&mut self) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+        let key = &self.conf.remote_deletion_list_path(self.pending.sequence);
+
+        backoff::retry(
+            || {
+                let bytes =
+                    serde_json::to_vec(&self.pending).expect("Failed to serialize deletion list");
+                let size = bytes.len();
+                let source = tokio::io::BufReader::new(std::io::Cursor::new(bytes));
+                self.remote_storage.upload(source, size, key, None)
+            },
+            |_| false,
+            FAILED_REMOTE_OP_WARN_THRESHOLD,
+            FAILED_REMOTE_OP_RETRIES,
+            "upload deletion list",
+            backoff::Cancel::new(self.cancel.clone(), || anyhow::anyhow!("Cancelled")),
+        )
+        .await
+    }
+
     /// Try to flush `list` to persistent storage
     ///
     /// This does not return errors, because on failure to flush we do not lose
@@ -533,16 +561,11 @@ impl FrontendQueueWorker {
             return;
         }
 
-        let key = &self.conf.remote_deletion_list_path(self.pending.sequence);
-
-        let bytes = serde_json::to_vec(&self.pending).expect("Failed to serialize deletion list");
-        let size = bytes.len();
-        let source = tokio::io::BufReader::new(std::io::Cursor::new(bytes));
-
-        match self.remote_storage.upload(source, size, key, None).await {
+        match self.upload_pending_list().await {
             Ok(_) => {
                 info!(
-                    "Stored deletion list {key} ({0}..{1})",
+                    sequence = self.pending.sequence,
+                    "Stored deletion list ({0}..{1})",
                     self.pending
                         .objects
                         .first()
@@ -585,7 +608,7 @@ impl FrontendQueueWorker {
         let header_bytes = match backoff::retry(
             || self.remote_storage.download_all(&header_path),
             |e| matches!(e, DownloadError::NotFound),
-            3,
+            FAILED_REMOTE_OP_WARN_THRESHOLD,
             u32::MAX,
             "Reading deletion queue header",
             backoff::Cancel::new(self.cancel.clone(), || DownloadError::Shutdown),
@@ -624,7 +647,7 @@ impl FrontendQueueWorker {
         let lists = backoff::retry(
             || async { self.remote_storage.list_prefixes(Some(&prefix)).await },
             |_| false,
-            3,
+            FAILED_REMOTE_OP_WARN_THRESHOLD,
             u32::MAX, // There's no point giving up, since once we do that the deletion queue is stuck
             "Recovering deletion lists",
             backoff::Cancel::new(self.cancel.clone(), || DownloadError::Shutdown),
@@ -687,7 +710,7 @@ impl FrontendQueueWorker {
             let lists_body = backoff::retry(
                 || self.remote_storage.download_all(&list_path),
                 |_| false,
-                3,
+                FAILED_REMOTE_OP_WARN_THRESHOLD,
                 u32::MAX,
                 "Reading a deletion list",
                 backoff::Cancel::new(self.cancel.clone(), || DownloadError::Shutdown),